Mitchell Cline, junior in geology, is the captain of the Peaceful Grapefruit Cheetahs and winner of an Intramural Champions T-shirt courtesy of Garry Greenlee, associate director of intramurals. The PGCs won the Iowa State Daily’s online poll to determine the best intramural basketball team name by an overwhelming number of votes – 1,913 total.

The Cheetahs went 3-0 in preliminary games and their first game of the single-elimination tournament is this Monday. Last year they were the Fighting Banana Slugs – this year they went the exact opposite route with their name.

How do they come up with such creative names? Here is a Q&A with Cline, going inside the mind that came up with the Peaceful Grapefruit Cheetahs.

TJ Rushing: Where did your name from last year, the Fighting Banana Slugs, come from?

Mitchell Cline: It’s the mascot of the U of California-Santa Cruz. One of my friends [who is on the team] got a hat of them in the eighth grade and we just thought the name was funny ever since.

TR: Where does your team’s new name come from?

MC: We figured the opposite of fighting is peaceful, the opposite of a banana is a grapefruit and the opposite of a slug is a cheetah.

TR: Since Peaceful Grapefruit Cheetahs is apparently so cool, will you keep it next year, or try to improve on it?

MC: We’ll just have to see how we feel. We still like Fighting Banana Slugs, but we like Peaceful Grapefruit Cheetahs. Then again, we might come up with something completely different.

TR: What were your expectations heading into the poll?

MC: I wanted it all. We had the dedication required for the marathon ahead.

TR: When did you realize you had the competition wrapped up?

MC: Probably about last Friday, when the poll numbers hadn’t been changing at all. I still kept a close eye on it all weekend though, just in case.

TR: How important was it for you to win the name game?

MC: It was important to me because it was something that I could control compared to the other intramurals. We can control how much we vote as compared to a football or basketball game. So I just figured I’d seize the opportunity and vote as much as possible.

TR: How important is a team name to an intramural team?

MC: I think it’s pretty important because it gives you an identity, even if it’s just a joke – it makes it more fun.

TR: What was more important – the poll or the actual games?

MC: Definitely the actual games because it has more to do with the people on the team rather than just the name. If I had to choose between winning the online poll or the tourney, I’d choose the tourney in an instant.

TR: How will the team perform in the tournament?

MC: We should do pretty well. We’re a little on the short side, but we make up for it with good outside shooting and good team chemistry.

TR: How does it feel to be the king of intramural names?

MC: It feels pretty good. We spent a long time thinking about names. It’s good to see that the work has paid off.